Shikabane

Name: Ariana "Ari" ShieldsAge: 17Appearance: Cause of Death: Freak accident. She was walking by a construction site when a cord came loose, dropping a steel beam from behind her. The direction it fell was diagonal, which hit her inbetween her shoulder blades, pointing in a downward angle and coming out from below her chest. She was literally skewered. However, she remained alive for nearly ten minutes, despite no hope of living. The actual cause of death was drowning from blood in her lungs.Regret: Never being able to tell the truth when she was alive.Family: Both parents, a younger sister, and an older brother are among the living.Contracted Monk: Requiem Dominus MortalisOptional: Her brother is 20 and they were very close. Her sister is 7 and they weren't as close but got along well. She got along with both parents.

Last edited by Bibliophiliac on Wed May 09, 2012 7:42 am; edited 1 time in total

Name: Requiem Dominus MortalisAge: 21Appearance:Shikabane Hime: Ariana ShieldsFamily: DisownedHistory: Just your average bartender. Nothing special about him. He meditates, writes semi-decent poetry, and trying to help people with their problems. He uses a tactical mindset when dealing with problems and people and enjoys playing RPG's. His main goal in life seems to be learning as much as possible. He was disowned by his family after questioning their religion, and pointing out it's numerous flaws.Other: He collects Pocket Watches, and well, pretty much any kind of clock. He also keeps a collection of antique books, and a few swords. Lastly, he always wears a wide brimmed fedora, and a silver cross necklace that he recieved a long time ago.

Screams echoed through the halls of the sanctuary, bouncing off a wall and down the separate hallways. The ropes digging into her skin and the tears streaking her cheeks. Ariana didn't really understand what was happening, other than she was being filled with hatred, regret, envy. Envy? Yes. Yes, she was envious that the humans would be able to speak the truth. They could answer questions and feel happy still.

But she was a human, yes? No. Not anymore. They called her a wraith. After she was impaled by a construction beam, her body was freed and taken to the hospital morgue where agents were waiting. When she awoke, she was already tied up and at the sanctuary.

The agents explained she was dead, but living and without a connection between her and a contractor, she would turn into an evil wraith, killing humans. She didn't want that. Yet, she did.

Ari was told they were trying to find a contractor. But it was getting harder and harder to find them and easier to find wraiths. So they may have to kill her instead. Well, they didn't say this, but definitely hinted toward the motion.

It had been nearly four hours since she first awoke and the envy and anger were growing. She called out in a begging plea for them to hurry. There wasn't much time left.

Though she didn't quite understand all of this, she knew the feelings inside of her were wrong. Bad. And she didn't want to harm anyone.

Requiem sat in the center of the room. He was the only 'monk' in that side of the building, and as was usual for him when he was there, he had one of his headphones blocking his ear. He wasn't very well respected, the others said he needed to take things more seriously, but that wasn't really his way. The way he looked at things, if you strain too much, you won't be able to bend to work around a situation should one arise.

As his music played, his mind began to wander once again. How long had he been working with these monks? Three years? Four? It seemed like a lifetime though. He still didn't like their attitudes, but he couldn't do anything about that. He desired to fight the Wraith. The destruction they brought to innocent people. He did however pity them. He knew full well that they did not desire to become like that in life, and in death they could not control it. All he could do would be to end their suffering. But first he would have to get himself a Princess.

The door to his room burst open "Requiem, it's time for you to fulfill your duty as a Monk." They said to him. He almost didn't hear them through the music, but silently stood up. He hadn't heard about anybody he knew dying. Curious, he followed them out. They walked silently in the direction that she was in before stopping outside the building. "You don't know her, but you're the only one here who isn't already contracted. You're going to have to make a connection with her and become contracted to her. Are you ready?"

Requiem nodded silently, not entirely sure himself. Of course, if he didn't help her, who would? She'd have to be killed. He couldn't let that happen. Silently, he stepped inside and turned to face the dead girl. As he began to wave at her, the door closed behind him. "Hey, I'm Requiem" He told her with a bit of a smile, however awkward it may have been.

Not able to control her sarcasm, "Requiem? What kind of name is that?" she replied. Then, realizing how odd a thing that is to say to somebody who might be able to save your life - Er, well, to save you from turning into evil -she promptly replied.

"I'm Ariana." And with a more serious tone, "Can you help me?"

She relaxed against the wall they had her tied to. Her voice and motions, solemn. Yet, fearful. And despite the shame she felt for the way she was begging, Ari couldn't help but stare this man in the eyes. And within that moment, Ari knew. She just knew he was one of the only human beings who always told the truth.

"Requiem, latin. Religious family, kind of psycho, disowned me actually. We can go over that another time, I'd say yours is rather limited right now, isn't it?" He told her, still smiling, although it had a touch of sadness mixed into it. He was accustomed to people being surprised or amused about his name. He'd been mocked a great deal throughout his life, but he'd gotten used to it.

"Well, Ariana, I'm not sure to be honest. I am going to try though, you've got my word on that" He looked up at her. How was he supposed to make a connection with her? He didn't know anything about her. Silently, he reached for the rope that was holding her up "I'm going to let you down, and we're going to try this, alright?" He asked. He was taking a great risk, and breaking more than a couple of Kougon's rules, but this was the only thing he could think of.

Requiem nodded, his smile never fading. "Come, we haven't much time." He told her, leading her towards the center. "We're going to try this, although we only have one shot." Quietly he went about setting up the whole ceremony process. "Ok" He said softly, forcing himself to recall everthing.

About fifteen minutes later, it was done. The process was complete. "Come along Ariana, let's go show the world what we can do, shall we?"

Arianna launched herself into the air and onto the Wraith's back. Grabbing the dagger from her shoe, she stabbed it into the creature's back. It writhed with pain and she grabbed the dagger, jumping up to it's head and stabbed again.

This time, the wraith just fell to the ground, slowly disappearing as it landed. She jumped away, landing in Requiem's arms. Her body cut up and bruised from the brutal fight.

It had only been two months since she started working with him, but she already trusted him with her life. Or, her undead life. Apparently it was a miracle they connected so well under the circumstances. Normally you need to know the Contractor before you make a bond. But Ari already knew why the connected so well. At least, partially. She knew the moment she saw his eyes that he told the truth. And her biggest regret was never being able to tell it. So to be with somebody who told the truth was a great blessing to her.

However, she still wasn't sure what his reason for the connection was. Still, she was grateful.

Requiem smiled lightly, catching her "You alright?" He asked, holding her close to allow his Run to heal her wounds.

It had taken some time to get used to being around her, but things weren't going too badly. Two months of constantly being around somebody gave one a good chance to really get used to them. It probably helped though that she looked like one of his old friends. When he first saw her, that's what he thought, if only for a moment, that it was her, and he couldn't stand to see her tied up and suffering like that. That's what he thought it was at least. No matter the case, the connection was strong enough. She and he were bonded now.

Ari smiled lightly back at him and nodded, contently snuggling up in his arms. Despite not being alive, she felt pain and she felt exhaustion. And today she was definitely exhausted. Even though she had only been a Princess Wraith for two months, she could already feel that the other Wraiths were becoming stronger.

She drifted off to sleep.

When she awoke, they were back in her apartment. She jolted up in bed, searching for Requiem. Instinctively, she grabbed the dagger she held in her belt and prepared herself.

As Arianna was waking up, Requiem was outside, lounged out on the porch swing he'd set up, rocking in the wind and relaxing. He hadn't heard word from the Kougon of any new Wraith problems yet, so he was hoping to take the downtime he had to relax.

When he heard movement inside though, he stood up and opened the door, leaning in "Morning sleeping beauty" He remarked playfully, "You know, I don't think you'll be needing those today m'dear, Kougon's been quiet. Besides, we could use a day off now and again, don't you think?"

"Um, sure," Ari replied, stuffing the dagger back into it's place around her belt. Had it really been quiet or was Requiem trying to be nice? Even if he were, it was doubtful the Kougon would allow her rest. They only saw her as a tool. As far as she knew, Requiem did too, but he never treated her as such.

Pushing her legs off the edge of the bed, she stood up. "I'm sure you would like to head out somewhere. Go ahead. I'll just stay here. I'm all healed up," she said and twirled around, trying to convince him it was fine to leave.

Apparently Ari and Req were quite the pair. Not only do they normally not bond so quickly, but Ari also felt more than any other Princess Wraith. She had true emotions. Granted, once someone had mentioned this to her during the days immediately after her change, she quickly hid them. She wasn't even sure if Requiem knew or not. Though, he probably did since he was her contractor.

She still wished she could understand why she had to walk in that spot right then. Why couldn't she have walked a few steps over? Or even to have just had her head completely leveled off. Instead, she wakes up from dreams of those last few minutes.

Shaking her head, she looked at Req. "You know what? I would love to go out somewhere, actually."

Requiem smiled "Alright then, where would you like to go?" He asked. He had a few errands to run, but other than that he didn't really have anywhere in mind to go. It would be nice to get out and spend a day like normal people.

"Um," she said shyly, "I don't really know. Anywhere is fine. I just want out of here." She grabbed some fresh clothes and changed into them, not bothering to change out of sight of her contractor. She was dead, what did it matter if someone saw her panties? When she was finished, she headed out the door past Requiem. This would be one of few instances where she would be able to just 'hang out' with her contractor.

Requiem nodded some, turning his head as he changed. "Well, I've got some things to do, but we'll figure something out, sound alright?" He asked, as she walked past him fully dressed. He let out a sigh of relaxation. Requiem understood that she didn't care, but it was still how he was raised, so while she was completely comfortable around him, he frequently found some of the things she did embarrassed him.

Twenty minutes later, they were downtown. It had been a long time since Ari had been down here. Actually, it had been the day she was killed. Why it hadn't dawned on her before now, she wasn't sure. But there it was. The high-rise that took her life.

"I should head back. I forgot I was going to train," she lamely excused herself. It was odd how a building could instill fear into her. She wasn't about to let her contractor see that, though. Afterall, she was supposed to just be a doll. Which she tried her best to be. It was hard enough being the Shikabane that bonded so quickly to her monk, but to be the one who seems more human than others...

No. She had vowed not to show emotions after the first few incidences. She might be a liability if they thought she would disobey her contractor.

Recognizing the building, Requiem stopped and turned to face her. "You know, we can always take a different route, it's not a big deal" He told her with a reassuring smile. He could sense her discomfort "Please, I would like to spend the day with you."

Trying to fake confusion, she shrugged, "Sure, I guess," turning suddenly down the nearest alley to the next block. Obviously Ari's contractor had sensed her unease, but he seemed to not care if she felt emotions more than the other Shikabane.

As they were heading down the alley, she ever-so quietly whispered a thank you, though didn't bother to break stride or turn to face him. They reached the next block and she turned onto the sidewalk.

"Well, for now, I've got to drop some mail off at the post office, after that, we can get some lunch, and pick up some groceries for the apartment, and assuming Kougon keeps quiet, maybe we can go see a movie. How's that sound?" He asked smiling lightly. He was quite aware of the emotional differences between her and other Princesses, and he had of course heard all of the risks, but he didn't care. She may have died, but she was still alive. He had no intention of treating her any differently than he would any other person.

Requiem smiled widely, "Alright, well first, to the post office!" He said striking a heroic pose for fun. He enjoyed eliciting reactions from her. Helped to remind him why he was doing what he was doing.

Failing to resist a grin, Ari followed suit of her contractor. They walked into the post office for Requiem to finish his errand while Ari browsed. It was rare to be this normal for her. Walking openly amongst the living. Doing what they did. It was almost hard for her to remember that she wasn't one of them. But at the very least, she had him. For now, that was enough.

After he finished his post office errand, he approached, with a grim expression on his face. "I have terrible news..." He began, looking her over to keep an eye on her reactions. "We have to leave immediately before it's too late. We have to go grocery shopping." He said in his most depressed voice possible. He hated grocery shopping, but overall he was in a good mood. Ari never really went with him on his day to day things, usually keeping herself hidden in her room.

Ari smirked at his demise. Grocery shopping is what he hated? Interesting. She hadn't minded it when she was alive, other than the pushy people.

A few minutes later, they were grabbing groceries. Not that Ari needed any, but it was nice to taste things still. They grabbed the essentials and headed to checkout. As they stood in line behind a couple with a child, Ari began to feel nostalgic. She had went here with her parents to shop. She remembers begging for candy as a little girl, about the age of the one in front of them.

Though it wasn't the memory that ripped her heart in two. It was the little girl's voice in front of them. "Mommy, can I have the candy bar?" She whined.

Ari bolted. She ran quickly away from Requiem and the couple with the child. Her sister. How could they have been so foolish? She was grateful he had tried to include her in his daily life, but they had become careless. No wonder Shikabane were treated differently. They were different. They were dead. Feelings or not, to the world, they were dead. They should be treated as such.

She ran until her legs betrayed her, falling to the concrete below. Her knees hit first and skid across the pavement. She was a couple miles from the store, and just another few from her hidden place. The only place she was safe from feeling normal. Her bare apartment. After she recovered slightly, her feet began walking there without her mind leading.